This invention pertains to meat processing apparatus which enables better handling of a body of meat during cutting of a portion therefrom and, more particularly, to a movable hook upon which a body of meat is impaled and which is movable between a raised position above a supporting surface to facilitate impaling of meat thereon and a lowered position wherein the hook is disposed within an opening in the supporting surface and generally at the level thereof to firmly capture the body of meat and prevent contact of an operator's knife with the hook during removal of a meat portion from the body of meat.
It is known in the prior art to hold a pork belly on a supporting surface, such as a travelling conveyor, by means of a hook to facilitate removal of the pork loins by an operator drawing a knife along the pork loin to sever the loin from the remainder of the pork belly. A specific example of structure of this type is shown in the Fick, Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,916 wherein a conveyor has a series of conveyor slats or panels which are provided with hooks fixed thereto and which protrude above the surface of the conveyor. The fixed hooks merely impale the meat and, thus, do not produce a gripping structure which holds the body of metal firmly in position during cutting thereof. The fixed hook can tear out of the skin of the meat. The protruding hook requires more care by the operator to avoid contact of the cutting knife with the hook and resulting dulling of the knife. Additionally, the cut required in an effort to avoid the hook results in less than maximum desired removal of the pork loin from the remainder of the body of meat.